Ignite by Sara B. Larsen

Published: December 30th,  2014

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 289

Copy: Library

Summary: Goodreads

Murder, abductions, and forbidden romance abound in this thrilling sequel to Sara B. Larson's acclaimed YA debut, DEFY.

Alexa remains by the newly crowned King Damian’s side as his guard, ever committed to helping him rebuild Antion and reclaim the hope of Antion's people, despite continuing to harbor a secret love for him. However, when another threat to Damian and his kingdom emerges, and blame is cast on their newly forged allies from Blevon, Alexa knows things are not what they seem. With the fate of her nation hanging in the balance once again, will Alexa be able to protect her king and uncover the true enemy -- before it's too late?

Curlypow's thoughts:

'Ignite' is the follow-up novel to 'Defy' and I'm happy to say, did not disappoint, at least not very much.  On the whole I really enjoyed 'Ignite'.  The great characters were there, and were fleshed out nicely for the most part and the action was constant and engrossing.  Romance, yep it was still there, with some of the usual second book hiccups, but ended much as I was expecting.

So what did disappoint me?  Well Alexa is the King's guard and she's supposed to be this kick-ass fighter who is a better swordsman than anyone else and she's strong and capable - and she keeps bursting into tears!  It seems to me that since folks discovered in the first book that she's a girl and not the boy she was pretending to be, she has suddenly turned into this over-emotional wimp.  Every time I thought I was getting to like her again, she seemed to have another crying jag!  Now I suspect I may be exaggerating just a little here, but you get my drift.  It overshadowed the rest  of the story for me unfortunately.

And poor Riley is still getting the short end of the stick and he's such a nice guy and so faithful to her as well. However, despite this nagging point for me, the story in itself is quite a lot of fun and there is a fair bit of excitement and danger.  I'm curious to know if I'm the only one bothered by Alexa's tears?